No. 14 South Dakota State battled not just New Hampshire, but also the weather as the Jackrabbits defeated the Wildcats 41-3 in a snowy, near-subzero FCS playoff matchup.
“When we found out that it was going to be cold in the forecast, everyone bought in, was super excited,” offensive lineman Quinten Christensen said. “I was personally super excited because I knew we were going to have to run the ball to win. And everybody just did their job and things clicked well.”
In Chase Mason’s return from a five-game absence due to injury, the Jacks tried to throw the first punch as they elected to receive the ball after winning the toss.
“I felt great today,” Mason said. “I didn’t have to really move a whole lot, I guess. The footing was a little slippery out there, but that didn’t bother my foot at all.”
SDSU’s first big play came from Julius Loughridge, who got hit in the backfield but broke a tackle to tear off a 27-yard run. From inside the 1-yard line, Mason handed the ball off to Loughridge to score the first touchdown of the game with 11:10 left in the quarter.
Eli Stader attempted a squib kick that was corralled and brought to the 45-yard line for New Hampshire’s first drive of the game. Quarterback Matt Vezza went 2 of 4 on that drive, and New Hampshire punted.
Grahm Goehring caught a 17-yard pass from Mason on third down to get SDSU’s drive going. Again, Goehring caught a pass from Mason on the subsequent play for 11 yards. After 12 plays, SDSU got the ball to the 1-yard line and handed it to Josiah Johnson, who ran the ball in for a touchdown. With 55 seconds left in the quarter, the Wildcats got a shot to cut into the 14-0 deficit.
A run, run and pass wasn’t enough for New Hampshire, and they punted to the 32.
Jack Smith took an end-around, ending the run with a bit of flair as he leaped over a defender for extra yardage. The 25-yard pass to Smith was followed by a 26-yard throw to Goehring to the 17-yard line. On second-and-goal, Mason threw the ball to Alex Bullock in the corner of the end zone. Cornerback Malik Diaby fought with Bullock for positioning, winning the battle and getting in front of the receiver. Diaby leaped into the air, attempting to pick the ball off but was unable. Off the ricochet, Bullock maintained sight of the ball and caught it in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. SDSU went up 21-0 with 11:26 left.
“There’s so much depth in the receiver room. It just showed today,” Mason said. “Once one gets a catch, they’re all blocking for each other. So it’s super cool to see that.”
New Hampshire put together its best drive of the game up to that point after taking a gamble on fourth-and-1. On their own 34-yard line, running back Denzell Gibson ran to the left of the offensive line, taking some hits but staying upright as he tore off a 26-yard run. The Wildcats later attempted a double pass and had a receiver wide open, but an overthrow negated any chance at a touchdown.
Logan Green and Bryce Johnson made back-to-back huge plays for the Jacks’ defense. Johnson tackled Gibson for a loss of 5 before Green got to the quarterback for a loss of 6. On third-and-goal from SDSU’s 19-yard line, Vezza ran for a gain of 12. The Wildcats kicked a field goal to get their first points of the game.
“I think their front seven is probably as physically impressive and as stout as we’ve seen the entire year,” UNH head coach Rick Santos said of the SDSU defense.
James Basinger got the nod to start the quarter, getting consecutive rushing attempts for a total of 21 yards. After a short pass to Smith, he ran in a 42-yard touchdown pass. SDSU went for two but was rejected; regardless, they led 27-3 with under two minutes of play in the half. New Hampshire scrambled and ran its way down the field, relying on legs rather than the arm of Vezza. They eventually went to the air, Vezza throwing the ball to Casey McKinney. It was off course, and McKinney was only able to get a hand on it. With the ball falling toward the sideline, Isaiah Johnson dived and intercepted the ball. The referees convened to determine whether he was out of bounds, but with SDSU’s white jerseys against the snow making it difficult to tell, the call was upheld. SDSU went into the half up 27-3.
“I think today was just a definition of complementary football,” linebacker Joe Ollman said. “They (the offense) went out, got 14-0 right away in the first quarter. We came out and got stops right away and we kind of just kept going with that. Kept rolling with the punches.”
New Hampshire received the ball to begin the third and had a grind of a drive. After barely converting a third down, the Wildcats faced their third fourth down of the game. On fourth-and-1 from the 50, Gibson received the ball and got just enough to keep the chains moving. Another third down followed after an incompletion and a negligible 1-yard run. A screen play to Gibson went nowhere, and SDSU got the ball again.
Every SDSU drive up to this point had resulted in a touchdown, but for the first time, the Jacks ended a drive with nothing. Loughridge had a 26-yard run to start the drive, followed by another run to get to second-and-5. On third-and-7, Mason layered a pass over a linebacker to convert. Looking down the field, Mason launched a ball deep on third-and-14. It effectively served as a punt, as his pass was intercepted at the 2-yard line. That interception was Mason’s second of the year.
Vezza and the offense weren’t able to capitalize on their defense’s first turnover of the game. A false start pushed them back, and a pair of runs and a pass wasn’t enough to convert the first down.
SDSU was able to build upon the lead; backup quarterback Jack Henry, who stepped in for Chase Mason early in the fourth, threw for a touchdown to Greighton Gannon.
The Jacks got short field positioning after they returned the roughly 40-yard punt to New Hampshire’s 30-yard line. Corey Blair Jr., Johnson and Loughridge ground their way to the 16-yard line before New Hampshire’s defense slowed them enough to force a third-and-6. Coleman Kuntz found a soft spot in New Hampshire’s zone; Mason found him and the Jacks recorded their fifth touchdown of the game. With 14:54 left in the fourth quarter, the game was essentially out of reach for the Wildcats.
In a must-have drive, New Hampshire fell short. They fell into fourth down quickly, and Vezza responded by keeping the ball and running it up the middle. On their fifth fourth-down situation, they were unable to convert, a tipped ball leading to an incompletion.
Mason had 230 passing yards on 16 of 20 attempts in his little more than three quarters played. He threw for three touchdowns and one interception. Loughridge now has over 1,000 rushing yards on the season after his 100-yard, 16-carry, one-touchdown performance. Goehring had the most receiving yards for SDSU with 75. The Jacks’ defense was lights out, allowing only 37 passing yards and 137 rushing yards. Their third-down defense was very good; New Hampshire was 4 of 14 in that regard. Fourth-down defense was a problem, however, as SDSU allowed 4 of 5 conversions.
“I think Austin (Sumner) may have been the best cold weather quarterback that we’ve ever had here, until right now,” head coach Dan Jackson said of Mason. “When you know where you’re going with the football and you know football so well like he does… he understood the coverages and where to go with the football the entire time.”
Next, the Jacks will go to Missoula to play the No. 3 Montana Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are 7-1 on the season and will be coming off a bye week. Montana leads the overall matchup 8-2, but both of SDSU’s wins against them have come in the playoffs. The Jacks currently have a two-game win streak against the Grizzlies.
“Our guys enjoy it. They enjoy going on the road,” Jackson said regarding the upcoming environment. “They love great environments. That’s what makes college football special. So I’d much rather be going somewhere that’s going to be loud and noisy and sold out than somewhere that wouldn’t be.”
